BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 19, 2026--
Naropa University will launch eight new and redesigned degree programs in spring 2027, deepening its commitment to education in service of a more just and regenerative world. The programs prepare students to meet the challenges of this moment—from social division and ecological uncertainty to the need for compassionate mental health care—with professional skills grounded in contemplative practice.
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At Naropa, education begins with the whole person: our capacity to pay attention, enter into relationship, and discover what we have to offer. These new programs extend that approach into fields where both knowledge and presence matter. Students will explore how to build trust across differences, care for people and the Earth, and create organizations and communities that support shared well-being.
“The world needs people who can bring both skill and heart to the challenges we share,” said Paul Burkhardt, PhD, president of Naropa University. “These programs carry our mission forward by preparing students to care for others, strengthen their communities, and imagine new possibilities. Making that education accessible to more people is central to our future.”
Preparing People to Lead, Collaborate, and Serve
The spring programs offer new ways to connect contemplative learning with purposeful work:
“We want students to discover the deep gifts they can bring to their communities, and crucially to develop the skills to put them into meaningful practice,” said Jeffrey Pethybridge, Chief Academic Officer. “In part that means learning to listen deeply, exercising curiosity across differences, and connecting personal growth with responsibility for the world we share, and share in making.”
Making this education more accessible is part of the same commitment. Beginning in fall 2026, Naropa lowered tuition for incoming students and held continuing students’ tuition flat for the 2026–27 academic year. Selected programs also make applying easier by removing major barriers in the application process. New accelerated degree pathways allow eligible undergraduates to begin graduate coursework while completing their bachelor’s degree, shortening the path to and cost of a master’s. Online and low-residency study opens more ways to participate for students balancing education with work, family, and commitments to their communities.
The new programs are part of a larger effort to adapt and grow while remaining rooted in Naropa’s purpose. Fall enrollment exceeded expectations, and the university completed its second-highest fundraising year. Together with expanded access and new opportunities for study, this support is helping Naropa carry its distinctive approach to education into its next chapter—rooted in Boulder and reaching students wherever they live.
For program details and application information, visit www.naropa.edu/academics or contact admissions@naropa.edu.
About Naropa University
Naropa University, nestled in Boulder, Colorado, was established in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Drawing its name and inspiration from the teachings of the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, this private university stands out distinctly among America’s higher education landscape in its effort to integrate eastern wisdom with traditional western scholarship. Recognized as the pioneering force behind contemplative higher education and the start of the modern mindfulness movement, Naropa University is the sole institution to integrate a university-wide contemplative pedagogical approach.
At Naropa, education transcends the ordinary; the institution embraces the entirety of its students—mind, body and spirit—augmenting traditional methodologies with practices like meditation. Since receiving its accreditation in 1986, Naropa University consistently upholds the exacting standards for quality and accountability set by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). Learn more at naropa.edu.
Naropa University's new degrees invite students to bring their gifts into service through leadership, healing, creative inquiry, and care for the Earth.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian federal lawmaker remained in critical condition Tuesday after undergoing surgery for injuries sustained when she was hit by a car in what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said was an apparently deliberate attack.
Helen Haines, a 65-year-old independent politician, was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV outside her electoral district office midafternoon Monday in the city of Wangaratta in Victoria state, police said. The driver was arrested and remained in police custody.
Albanese said the national counterterrorism team was investigating, incorporating police and intelligence agencies.
“This wasn’t an accident. There was a deliberate act, it would appear. We don’t know what the motivation is,” Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
The 43-year-old driver was arrested at the scene by a passerby and would be interviewed by investigators. He wasn't publicly identified and no charges had been announced on Tuesday morning.
A police statement said a knife had been found inside the suspect's vehicle. Officers were investigating whether it was an intentional act.
Albanese said eyewitnesses had reported the suspect passed Haines in his vehicle as she stood by the trunk of her parked car. The car then turned and came back before the man allegedly drove into the politician, the prime minister said.
“This wasn't something with a car just going off the road,” Albanese told Australian channel News24. “This is something that is very clear was aimed at causing harm to Helen Haines.”
Haines, who was first elected to the Parliament in 2019, was taken to a hospital with critical injuries, police said. Albanese said she had been airlifted on Monday from a facility in Wangaratta, a city of 30,000 people, to a hospital in the state capital Melbourne, 236 kilometers (147 miles) away.
The episode has renewed safety concerns for Australian lawmakers in a country where politicians have historically been highly accessible to the public and usually go about their business without security officers present. However, public incitement against officials is growing.
Police reported in 2025 that threats against parliamentarians had doubled over the past three years. Official data showed more than 1,000 such threats against politicians in the 2025-2026 financial year.
Albanese said it was “unfortunate” that an increasingly polarized political climate had already led to security changes for Australia’s lawmakers.
“I think there has been a rise in temperature and there has been too much shouting, not enough discourse, not enough polite conversation and disagreement,” he said. There was ‘no question’ that social media played a part, Albanese added.
Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Ashley Mason said investigators considered Haines’ injury an “isolated incident.”
“We certainly do not have any intelligence that there is any further or any ongoing threat to any other person or the broader community,” Mason told reporters.
Albanese, along with other political party leaders and lawmakers, have praised Haines as an admired and well-intentioned legislator with integrity.
“Helen Haines is someone who was characterized by civil discourse and engaging constructively right across the Parliament,” the prime minister told News24.
Her political career is unusual in Australia. In her constituency, a grassroots community group campaign ousted a senior conservative lawmaker with their candidate, Catherine McGowan, in 2013. McGowan retired in 2019 and Haines was elected with the support of the same community group. She was reelected in 2022. Few politicians outside the major parties in the Australian Parliament win more than a single election.
Around the world, political polarization has led security agencies to warn of growing threats to lawmakers. The United States has seen a rise in political violence over the past decade.
That includes the 2022 hammer assault on the husband of Democratic then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in California; the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally during his presidential campaign as well as another on the president at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in April; and the assassinations in 2025 of a Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband, and of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk in Utah.
In Britain, murders of politicians have also prompted bolstered security. Labour lawmaker Jo Cox was shot and stabbed in 2016 by a far-right extremist, while Conservative David Amess was stabbed in 2021 by an attacker inspired by the Islamic State group.
In July, the former British politician and reality TV contestant Ann Widdecombe was found beaten to death with a hammer at her home. A man has been charged with murder and terrorism-related offenses.
Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to Indepedent member of parliament, Helen Haines, in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP )
Australian independent member of parliament Helen Haines speaks to journalists in the Press Gallery at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (Mick Tsikas/AAP Image via AP)
